Sony PlayStation 4 to be shown off on February 20?

Sony appears to be gearing up for the official announcement of the next-generation PlayStation console. Yesterday the company published a "See the future" video on the PlayStation Twitter page that teases a new console.

According to all rumors we've heard lately, the new PlayStation will be x86-based and will use an eight-core AMD Jaguar based SoC with custom AMD Radeon HD graphics. The new console is anticipated to be capable of running games in stereoscopic 3D mode in 1920 x 1080 and upscale video content to 4K-class resolutions (3840 x 2160). Backwards compatibility with previous-generation video games is expected to be delivered via Sony's Gaikai video game streaming service.

For Sony, it is crucial to unleash its next-generation video-game system ahead of Microsoft Corp., which managed to start selling its current Xbox 360 a year ahead of the PlayStation 3 and therefore grabbed a larger share of revenue in this generation. As a result, Sony will introduce the next-generation PlayStation 4 also known as “Orbis” at an event on February 20, 2013, reports the Wall Street Journal.

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Sony PS4 is also expected to feature a new controller that will replace the legendary Dual Shock. The design and features of the new controller will remain similar to the traditional PS controllers – expect face buttons, two thumbsticks, shoulder triggers, haptic feedback and motion sensing – but with one significant addition: a capacitive touchpad that can recognize two-point multi-touch. The controller is also projected to feature “share” button, which may have something to do with social capabilities of the new gaming platform. In theory, capacitive touchpad can be installed not only on the front side of the controller, but also on the backside, just like on the PlayStation Vita, which should theoretically allow PS4 owners to play at least some of the games for the portable console.